SpaceX Starship launch aborted on pad at last moment

WASHINGTON: SpaceX's mega Starship rocket came within a second or so from blasting off on a test flight but some of the engines failed to start, triggering a launch abort.

Elon Musk's company said it will have to figure out what went wrong before making another attempt to send Starship on a space-skimming flight halfway around the world.

It was supposed to be the 13th flight for Starship, which at 407 feet (124 meters) tall with 33 main engines is the world's biggest and most powerful rocket.

SpaceX's launch webcast on Thursday showed the start of engine ignition three seconds before the planned liftoff, viewed from a drone high above the pad. Whichever engines fired abruptly shut down, with the rocket remaining anchored to the pad. The launch team immediately began draining the fuel from the rocket.

"Next launch attempt hopefully in a few days," Musk announced via X.